April 2012

Pre-Easter Activities

The biggest event in April was Easter and all the sugar associated with it. There were so many activities going on that it felt like Easter just kept going and going and going. We started off with our Stake Primary Easter Activity. This was my first activity as the Primary President in our ward, I was just barely called in so everything had already been planned, I just helped set up in the morning.

They had a brunch, a little program with all the kids singing, a visit from the Easter Bunny - that didn't go over well with Bailey, then an Easter Egg Hunt outside. This egg hunt was Bailey's first hunt since last year, she had a fun time picking them up, and even better time when she found out there was candy inside! This realization was the downfall of Easter.

Next up was a little Easter Playdate that our friend Paige put on. She had a fun Easter themed lunch and an egg hunt with snacks inside. It was so cute to watch these kids find the eggs and play together. Bailey, Cash, Emily, Bevyn and Eli were there.

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Easter Sunday

Our friend Kristen Hayes organized a huge Easter Egg Hunt for all the kids in the ward after church on Easter Sunday. Bailey was so funny, we tried holding her back from going up the hill where all the eggs were but she just kept going. She didn't pick up any eggs until they said "Go!" and when they did, she would pick one up, open it, eat the candy inside, pick up another open it, eat the candy, etc. All the other kids were picking them up and collecting them as fast as they could, not Bailey. She opened them one by one. By the time all the eggs were picked up Bailey had about 3 in her basket and all the other kids had full baskets! Ha ha! Silly girl. The other kids were nice and shared their eggs with her. I guess she'll learn next year.

I did make Bailey's Easter dress this year. It was actually pretty easy using ruffle fabric. I tried to get a good picture of it and tried to get her to sit still once we got home. That didn't work - all that sugar!

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Easter Basket

The Easter Bunny came to our house while Bailey napped on Sunday. Yes, we actually got her to take a nap after all the sugar from the Egg Hunt after church. She was surprised to see a basket waiting for her with some fun things inside: bubble wand, slinkies, sidewalk chalk, a book, and a beading lacing kit, and NO CANDY! She thought there would be candy in all the empty eggs...

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Easter Dinner

We had a fun Easter Dinner with friends this year, held at the Puffpaffs. We had a traditional ham, potatoes, rolls, salads, all the good stuff! The kids had another egg hunt, with MORE candy, some play time jumping off the couch (love that photo with Bailey's crazy hair) then they all crashed on the couch.

I love these girls!

Stephanie, Monica, Melissa, Me, Bailey, Chelsey, Ashley, Stephanie

Half of these girls have moved and I miss them so much!

See what I mean by Easter went on forever? A few days later we even got an Easter package from Uncle Mike in the mail. MORE CANDY and a some fun toys. She was happy to get it!

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Craft Fair

I did one of my last craft fairs (for a while) in April. It was the hardest I've ever worked for a show and it was the most profitable. Many people don't know how much work I put into doing one of these shows. It's weeks of late nights ordering supplies, making products, coordinating my booth set up, making sure I have everything I need like cash, credit card machines, internet, food, a babysitter for Bailey and anything else I'll need during the day running my booth. I'll admit I had a few meltdowns with stress overload - more because Mark couldn't help me as much since he had school commitments he couldn't get out of, and setting up my booth by myself was one of the worst experiences ever. It was a one woman show and seriously the HARDEST I've ever worked, but it was worth it, and I feel very blessed and grateful to have my little jewelry business.

I did treat myself to a steak dinner...and an iPhone afterwards - that made me feel better :)

I didn't take any photos of the actual craft fair, but here's the aftermath of the office/craft room. Fun huh?

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Spring Walks

Moscow is probably the most beautiful in Spring. Everything is super green, fresh, and there's actually a few warm days - warm is like 60's. We definitely took advantage of those "warm" days and went on walks when we could. This walk was with my friend Chelsey and her two cute kids Mylee and Colton, we also had Ashlyn with us - our other friend's daughter. The other great thing about this area is that you don't have to walk far to see some fun farm animals and the kids love it! 

 

This one is from the field by our apartment, we used to walk in there all the time to go see some horses...until we found out there are Hobo Spiders in there. Haven't been since.

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Coeur d'Alene

Towards the end of April it actually started it get in to the high 70's and even hit 80* one day! We jumped on that took a little girls day trip to Coeur d'Alene - a little resort town about 90 minutes away from Moscow. We headed up in the morning and stopped at Target for some shopping, then Cafe Rio for lunch, then the beach for some fun! The kids all loved playing in the water and the moms all loved soaking up some sun - finally! It was a long day but totally worth it because it was one of the last few girls' trips before everyone left for graduation or internships. I seriously love these girls like my family and miss them so much!

Lyndee and Paige, Chelsey with Mylee, Rachelle with Eli, Melissa, Ashley

There's also an awesome park right by the beach for the kids to play at - if they didn't get enough energy out at the beach!

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Bailey's Birthday Party

I knew Bailey and I would be leaving for Utah for a few weeks right before her birthday, and when we got back everyone would have moved away. So I wanted to do a little party with her friends before we left and have it double as a "one last time to see my friends" party too. We met at the indoor playground, sang "Happy Birthday" and ate cupcakes and ice cream, Bailey opened a few presents her friends gave her, then the kids just played. Super easy, low stress, but fun for everyone.

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Fun

There are always a few photos left over that are just "fun" photos, like this first one. Mark would rub Bailey's head with a blanket and make her hair CRAZY and Bailey would squeal and laugh until Mark did it again. Silly girl.

We went bowling AGAIN, I think this was the last time we went before it really warmed up and we went to parks instead. These were some of the few photos that we were both smiling so I had to post it.

With my new phone I got the app "Instragram" where you can quickly take/upload a photo and post it to Instgram or Facebook, then you can see all your friends photos too. These were all my Instagrams from April.

birthday, Ferdinands, splits!, painting

finally warm outside, then cold outside, beach, bowling

CDA, park, grilling season, strawberries

See you next month!

March 2012

March started out with a 22 month photo shoot with Bailey. Man I love this girl. Every time I look at these photos I want to kiss those cheeks off and give her a big squeeze! I also found a photo of me at about the same age and I was shocked to see that we not look alike, but almost identical. Wahoo! My genes are pulling through!

I should also mention that she has Bunny and Snuggles with her. These are the two items she can't go to sleep without. I wanted to document them now, I'm sure they will be "well loved" as the years go by.

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Ward Activities

I love our ward. I've met and become friends with some of the best people around and I love all our activities. In March we had two: International Food Night, and "I"m a Mormon" Talent Show. For the International Food Night everyone brought a dish from a different country or culture, we had games, and enjoyed a very diverse dinner. I brought crepes with bananas, strawberries, whipped cream, and of course Nutella! Yum!

For the second activity we had a "I"m a Mormon" Talent Show. Everyone either performed or brought things from home to represent their talents. I brought some cupcakes and jewelry, Bailey brought some finger paintings, and Mark performed a song with his friends - Brad, Nate, Taylor, and Matt. These guys did great! 

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Seattle

We took advantage of Mark's Spring Break this year and took a little trip Seattle. Mark's brother, Jake, and his family live just outside Seattle so we spent a few days with them and then got a hotel in downtown Seattle for another few days. This will go down in my books as one of the worst vacations ever, for several reasons: Bailey was sick, Mark was sick, I hate rain, and snow closed the mountain pass on the way home.

To start our trip, Bailey came down with a fever as we were loading the car and got progressively worse each day. She only slept 1-2 hours at night then would cry until I rocked her back to sleep. She also screamed every time I left the room. Mark ended up getting it too and he wasn't much help at all - which if you think about it, a vacation with kids is actually a LOT of work and you need all the help you can get, so it was really frustrating for me. The days we spent with Jake's family were the worst, but we made the best of it. We went to the beach and found crabs, and attempted fishing in the rain.

I love these beach photos.

Fishing in the rain was fun for the little girls, it seems like kids just find fun in everything no matter what's going on around them. I was a little nervous the entire time with Bailey on the dock, but we made it through without any falls into the water - or fish.

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Science Center & Space Needle

Once we were in downtown Seattle Bailey started to feel a little better and Mark was on the mend too. We got the Seattle City Pass which included the Science Center, Space Needle, Aquarium, Harbor Tour and Zoo for a discount, so we crammed them all in. The Science Center mostly had things for older kids, but there was a play area for small kids and a butterfly sanctuary that was pretty amazing! I've never seen so many butterflies in one place!

After the Science Center we RAN in the rain over to the Space Needle. These places are just around the corner from each other so we seriously did run. Good thing we were bundled up, because the top of the Space Needle was even colder and super windy. Bailey didn't like it too much but it was a nice view.

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Aquarium, Harbor Tour, Pike's Market

We spent the next day at the Aquarium, took a Harbor Tour and shopped around Pike's Market. Bailey really liked the Aquarium and being able to touch the starfish, and seeing all the other fish. They even had a little play time for kids with crafts and hands on activities too. The Aquarium was probably Bailey's favorite place on the trip.

Right after the Aquarium we quickly walked down to the dock where our harbor tour was. Mark and I both agreed that one harbor tour on a boat was probably good for us for the rest of our lives. We were both so motion sick by the end! Plus chasing Bailey around the boat didn't help. It was a pretty ride though and we learned heaps about the city.

It was such a blessing that this day turned out to be the best weather day, it only rained a little bit and then it was sunny the rest of the day. So after the harbor tour (and a stop for some caffine and candy to make us feel better) we headed over to Pike's Market. We shopped the inside and outside and got our Seattle shopping fix. We even pulled aside to see the famous "Gum Wall"...sick.

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Zoo

Our plan for the last day of our Seattle vacation was to go to the zoo then drive home. Well, we didn't last that long at the zoo because it was pouring rain. We wrapped Bailey in a plastic shopping bag and ran from exhibit to exhibit. It was actually really disappointing, most of the animals were at the vet or something and we kept seeing signs that they were gone. We did get to an elephant, an orangutan, and some chickens. Sweet huh!? Ha ha! 

The drive home was probably the worst part of the vacation. It ended up snowing so much that the mountain pass was closed! Police officers made everyone without snow tires or chains go back down the mountain and not make it through the pass. So we had to go back to the nearest town, buy chains, then drive back up the monition. With all that what normally a 5 hour drive took us 10 hours!!! Yes, 10 hours in the car to get home. Bailey was still not feeling the best so she ended up sleeping for most of it. 

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Bowling, again

We don't really bowl all that often, but it seems like that was the only thing to do in these winter months, so we went again! This time we got ice cream at the creamery first. I love seeing all those kids lined up with their cones!